An everyday tale of family and political life with a dollop of Formula One and various random thoughts on the side.

Saturday, February 05, 2011

Dave finds his dog whistle

You know how it is. You move house and something you use a lot gets lost in the process. Maybe months later, it'll suddenly turn up.

That's how it seems it's been with David Cameron's dog whistle. We saw it lots in the run up to the election, when he was talking about how burglars should have no human rights, or when he was on about immigration for example. But apart from a few moments like the one where he said the thought of prisoners getting the vote made him sick, he's not been as bad in recent months.

However, it looks like the dog whistle which has presumably been hidden in a packing crate in Downing Street since May is back in service again. I feel deeply uneasy about some aspects of the speech he gave today. I'm linking to the actual full transcript on the Downing Street website so you can read the whole thing for yourself and draw your own conclusions.

I liked the fact that he went out of his way to talk about how Islam the religion and Islamist extremism, the political ideology are not the same thing but then he ruined it all by saying that "Someone can be a devout Muslim but not be an extremist". I'd have preferred something a bit stronger. Virtually all devout Muslims are not extremists, actually, or potential terrorists.

Cameron talks about how we should reassert our national identity, our British values of freedom of speech and equal rights for everyone. It annoys me when people appropriate such positive values, which are common across all of humanity, for their country.

I find it quite distressing that he wraps all of this up as "active and muscular liberalism". It's not the sort of liberalism I recognise, which is all about ensuring that none are "enslaved by poverty, ignorance or conformity" (a phrase from the Preamble to our Constitution). I rather liked how my friend Norman Fraser summed it up on Facebook earlier today:

Muscular Liberalism' would appear to be liberalism with the tolerance and intelligence taken out.

I don't like the way that Cameron used a speech about dealing with Islamic extremism to talk about things like equal rights for women and gay people as though sexism and homophobia were confined to that very small bunch of people. If Government ministers are not to engage with people who espouse such ideas, does that mean that there will be no more consorting with Daily Mail journalists or certain sports commentators?

I wish I had more time at the moment to delve more deeply into this but for once we have a social life and we're off out to see some friends in a minute.

I wonder, though, if Cameron feels a need to reconnect with his core vote who, thanks to the right wing press, may be fearing that he's turned into a cuddly liberal teddy bear who's taking all their money away. It's quite a contrast, though. This week Nick Clegg has been talking about very positive things, showcasing £400m of new help for mental health services and therapies, and outlining a coherent economic strategy. He's had a very good week. He's come out with loads of things recently that appeal to Liberal Democrats. Cameron is saying stuff to appeal to core Conservatives and the fact that it's narrow minded stuff that makes me feel queasy is not really surprising.

I don't necessarily think it's a bad thing, though, that the huge differences in philosophy between the two parties have been highlighted so clearly by their leaders. Clegg, on one hand seeking to sweep away prejudice and stigma, Cameron on the other trying to reinforce it.

That wasn't a dog whistle, it was a fucking huge fog horn intended to move attention away from spending cuts and moronic NHS reforms. No doubt the tories will see a bounce in the polls as rediscover their xenophobia and start blaming everything on Brown people.

It is usual tory strategy of whipping up some anger against a minority group. Osborne has been at it since June with all his scrounger/people with their curtains closed at 7am rubbish. Even Cleggy has had a go with his pathetic "Alarm Clock Britain" nonsense.

That wasn't a dog whistle, it was a fucking huge fog horn intended to move attention away from spending cuts and moronic NHS reforms. No doubt the tories will see a bounce in the polls as rediscover their xenophobia and start blaming everything on Brown people.

It is usual tory strategy of whipping up some anger against a minority group. Osborne has been at it since June with all his scrounger/people with their curtains closed at 7am rubbish. Even Cleggy has had a go with his pathetic "Alarm Clock Britain" nonsense.

Good article Caron.Yes Dave is about 20 years too late with this kind of speech and it's now just hot air.He's reacting to the panic in middle England where people have lived for generations in great neighbourhoods and have seen them transformed into 3rd world ghettos over a few decades due to planned mass immigration. Mainly planned by Labour / left wing media / BBC etc but also backed by the other main parties who were afraid to stand up for their country for fear of being branded 'racist'.But it's done now. Demographics and the ECHR will ensure that we will never recover and unfortunately the only way is down.

This is a pretty vacuous piece by Cameron. What is "the doctrine of state multiculturalism" other than a straw man, built to be easily knocked down? Of course, there are sinister overtones too. How will the Government mould and enforce a 'stronger identity at home'? Why is the state wrong to promote multiculturalism but right to promote cultural conformity? Why do the Tories feel the state should be involved in such initiatives if individual liberty means so much to them?

As a Scot I find Cameron's speech no more sophisticated than Norman Tebbit's 'cricket test'. It is just another example of the incomprehension Tories display in engaging with any group which is not white, middle class and English.

This is a pretty vacuous piece by Cameron. What is 'state multiculturalism' other than a straw man to be knocked down in argument? What measures will the government take to promote a 'strong identity at home'? Why is it wrong for government to promote multiculturalism yet right to enforce conformity? What are the Tories doing interfering is this area if they are so insistent on individual liberty?

As a Scot I find this no more sophisticated than Norman Tebbit's 'cricket test'. It demonstrates yet again the Tories' inability to deal with citizens who are not white, middle-class and English.

We are in accord. What a tool.Clegg in contrast has indeed had a better week or two. Can we just forget the Tories and have Lab V Lib? When one forgets their values, the other can drag them back, but at least we've GOT some.